Healthiest and Unhealthiest relationships in songs?

Cross posted about Baby it’s Cold Outside.
Apologies if you already know, but Hurt is originally by Nine Inch Nails. Their version is one of my favourite songs, but very much about heroin addiction.

Sting has had a bit of deserved stick upthread, but I like to think that Fields of Gold comes in the later days of a long and largely successful relationship.

Honey by Bobby Goldsboro gives me the shudders. Isolating, neglecting and mocking that poor girl until she committed suicide and then wailing about how sad he is now that she's dead.

Under My Thumb? But surely this rendition by Wayne Gibson draws out the sensitive angle of the song?

Baby it’s cold outside
He’s literally coercing her to stay and have sex when she’s already told him (several times) that she wants to leave.

ooh, Roberta Flack's version. Amazing.

Apologies if someone has already posted but I was thinking of the beautiful song Ewan Macoll wrote for Peggy Seeger “The first time ever I saw your face” just beautiful

I wonder which side the late and brilliant Victoria Woods “Ballad of Barry and Freda” sits 😆

Oh yes, beautiful song.

^^

Probably this is unhealthy but fuck it's brilliant.

I bloody love the Beatles (I listened to them a lot while doing my homework), so it's nice to see them mentioned here, both for the healthy and the unhealthy lyrics.

I'm So Tired was written while the Beatles were in India after John met Yoko. She wasn't there. He missed her and couldn't sleep.

The rooftop performance of Don't Let Me Down is a raw, heartfelt plea to Yoko, which I always liked for its vulnerable honesty.
Y

The songs written by both John and Yoko (separately) about their relationship cover everything from healthy to unhealthy.

Yoko yearns for John in Your Hands.
E

Yoko Ono - Nobody Sees Me Like You Do (from Season Of Glass, so written after John Died).
O

RE Run For Your Life. It is worth noting that it was inspired by an Elvis song (and lifts the 'I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man' line completely from that song). The protagonist in Run For Your Life is specifically (self) described as wicked and jealous.

Elvis Presley - Baby, Let's Play House.

On the subject of hits/kisses: Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence.
g

Also Harvest Moon, still in love and ageing.

I’ve been listening to Jolene a lot lately and much as I love it, it’s deeply misogynistic isn’t it? There’s no criticism of the man and his penchant for Jolene, it’s all pleading with the woman not to take him!
The Rolling Songs had some horrid women-hating songs. Under My Thumb gives me the shivers.
There are a load of pretty rapey songs out there too. I can’t believe Baby It’s Cold Outside is still allowed to be played! Jeez it even alludes to him spiking her drink.
Hurt by Johnny Cash breaks my heart every time

In terms of healthy songs, Bridge Over Troubled Waters and You’ve Got a Friend come to mind, just because of their sentiment relating to being there for someone without any agenda.

Bit if a weird one but I love mmmbop by Hanson. Song about how fast time goes by and how it’s important to hold on to what matters most. To think that they were only kids when they wrote it always amazes me.

“You have so many relationships in this life
Only one or two will last
You go through all the pain and strife
Then you turn your back and they're gone so fast
Oh yeah
And they're gone so fast, yeah
Oh
So hold on the ones who really care
In the end they'll be the only ones there
And when you get old and start losing your hair
Can you tell me who will still care
Can you tell me who will still care?
Oh, oh care”

I thought of it as him not having realised how young she really was and resolutely deciding not to let things get any further when he did find out, because he knew they mustn't. At the time (1968), a lot of girls of fifteen spent their time trying to pretend to be eighteen, and a lot of them did a good job of it too!

Bearing in mind the number of popstar and dj types who delighted in taking advantage of under-age groupies, at that time, I felt it was a good thing at least one of them was acknowledging that was wrong behaviour.

Another vote for the beautiful Magnetic Fields, The Book of love

I try not to think about it too often as it is a grade A++ earworm

It's a bit victim-blamy though isn't it. Making his attraction to an underage girl be all about her pretending to be older

I thought the point of that one was that he didn't want to do anything about being attracted by the young girl of the title?

The Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues", on the other hand, is beyond dodgy.

Ah, you beat me to it. The other songs don't necessarily have healthy relationships, but at least most of them have women who recognise they're being treated badly

I’m amazed that I’ve got two pages in and nobody has yet mentioned Young Girl.

Prettiest Eyes by The Beautiful South is sweet, and probably counts as a green flag, remembering the stupid things you do on the way

😁

Billy Joel has a dodgy lyric or two in his collection, but Tell Her About It is excellent advice.

Some Velvet Morning is a gorgeous song but its creepy as fuck i'ntit?

Weird 80s controlling vibe on Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung. Great tune, creepy words.

Take your baby by the hand
And make her do a high handstand
And take your baby by the heel
And do the next thing that you feel

We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do and share in what was true
I said
Dance hall days love

Take your baby by the hair
And pull her close and there, there, there
And take your baby by the ears
And play upon her darkest fears

We were so in phase
In our dance hall days
We were cool on craze
When I, you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do and share in what was true
I said
Dance hall days, love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days, love

Take your baby by the wrist
And in her mouth an amethyst
And in her eyes two sapphires blue
And you need her and she needs you

Etc. I always picture the singer as a Nazi, or some kind of sadist perv.

I just did; it grows on you.